Sick Rooster Died - Hens Sick now

[Wrenne]

OK... So on March 2nd, my roo Asia died after only about 36 hours of his symptoms. He was isolated and cared for in the enclosed deck in a soft sided dog inside zip up kennel. He looked great, but staggered and could not stand upright. I checked on him through the night, but I think he died when he tried to stand and crow first thing in the morning.

Based on advise from everyone this is what I have done. One hen seemed ill and so I got LA-200 and gave every hen an injection in the breast muscle of 1cc and then three days later repeated the injection and orally administered 0.4 cc of Fenbendazole for goats (10% suspension). I will repeat that on day 10 for a second final dosage. We are at this point discarding all eggs. Surprisingly these hens did not reduce laying. I have five hens and I average 4 eggs a day (2 Buffs, 2 WyanD's and one mixed - most likely Black Star/Polish). I see no sign of worms. I increased dry Oatmeal to reduce runs.

Where the rooster climbs on their wing area, the hens had gotten worn spots. I noticed that Peepers (Blackstar/Polish mix) was the worse worn and her worn spots looked fuzzy. I got a closer look and it is like crusted frozen snow - very hard. I looked here and found that warm vinegar water might help on the spots. I have done that twice now. But the dominant hen (Buff-O) is picking on the area. Another hen tried to shield her (Wyandotte) and I noticed the dominant hen picking at her in the same area. So I moved her feathers and same issue. I have a 16 year old parrot who moults. I know what the wax of pin feathers look like on a parrot. But this has not happened to my parrot ever. I do not think this crust is moutling. So I thought maybe the disputed term of "chicken mange" or possibly fungus. This image uploaded was taken today after Peepers has been treated twice. And is looking pinker and has less crust. I will try to get a better image and upload that, but I had just put the vinegar water on and she is timid now.

What do I try now? The Wyandotte has been acting strange for a couple of days and to see this on her in the same area is perplexing. The roo didn't mate frequently with the Wyandottes so their feathers look OK.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I increased dry Oatmeal to reduce runs.

Where the rooster climbs on their wing area, the hens had gotten worn spots. I noticed that Peepers (Blackstar/Polish mix) was the worse worn and her worn spots looked fuzzy. I got a closer look and it is like crusted frozen snow - very hard. I looked here and found that warm vinegar water might help on the spots.

Can you clarify your concern?
Are you talking about the bare spots on the top of the wings?
This is something I would associate with overmating, not mange. Vinegar water might cleanse the skin, but feathers that are damaged/broken and the shaft still intact in the skin won't be replaced until the hen molts. Most hens molt in late summer/fall.
If she is being picked at, you can try putting some BluKote or pine tar on the bare spots that may deter the feather picker.

I would eliminate the oatmeal all together. What type of worms are you trying to treat with the Fenbendazole? Dosage is .23ml per pound of weight given orally. If you give once, then repeat in 10 days, that will treat roundworms. If you are wanting to treat anything else give it for 5 days in a row. You gave your hen .40ml? So she weighs less than 2pounds?

 

[Wrenne]

Wyorp RockCan you clarify your concern?

Q1:What type of worms are you trying to treat with the Fenbendazole? Dosage is .23ml per pound of weight given orally. If you give once, then repeat in 10 days, that will treat roundworms.
A1: I am new to this and the hens are all less than a year old. They have never been wormed, but I have seen nothing to indicate worms. However i was feeding Soldier Fly larvae and I read that they can get worms from that source. As they all were somewhat sick and I was giving LA-200 for congestion issues, I thought I should not neglect worming either.

A2: I see Dawg53 is responding on this as a like. I actually used his dosage because my hens are not large. They average 4 pounds. His dosage awhile back said...
Don't put Safeguard in water, the liquid safeguard settles to the bottom and is also too diluted to be effective. Administer it orally 1/2cc to standard size birds, 1/4cc to smaller birds and redose again in 10 days. Post 9/20/13
...His credentials are impressive and agreed with a Kathy who was also impressive with her credentials and I didn't want to physically challenge already sick young hens with a full 1/2 cc, so I gave 0.4cc to the smaller ones. I did however give the full 1/2 cc to the 2 WyanD's as they are the biggest (although it may just be that they are the most feathered). I will give them another dose on day 10 at the full 1/2cc dosage.

The skin on shoulder areas had a hard white crust - almost like solid calcium. There was also white powder (not waxy flakes) that was superfine. The water with vinegar (1 Tablespoon per cup) is gently removing the solid white stuff. You can see in the image where the white solid is still present where the pink skin ends at the top and bottom. I am gently swabbing. The one WyanD is being pecked at to the point of bleeding by the BuffO leader of the pack. But her feathers hide her injury. But she is also crusty to a lesser extent. I had read about dry chicken pox or possibly a white fungus, so these are what I am thinking it might be, but didn't want to jump to a conclusion.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Have you checked for lice and mites? I would.
You mention that your birds have congestion? Has that cleared up?

I still don't really see a powder, to me that is skin, bone and feathers. If you think it's fungal, then use the BluKote it has antifungal properties.

I'm glad you were able to find dosing info. Hopefully the worming will help with whatever is going on with them.

*edit for grammar

 

[Wrenne]

So I bathed Peepers (Black Hen) in Epsom salts with vinegar. I rinsed her in baby shampoo with vinegar. Then followed with water alone and dried with a hairdryer. I sieved ALL of the water except for the final rinse water. The contents are in the sieve. I show a blowup of some spots. There are feathers, a gauze pad I used to take off the crusty stuff and some pebbles from the sand in their run. Does any of this look like mites? As I said this was ALL of the two bath waters at total of 6 gallons. First hen is Peepers. The two Wyandottes are Elvira (hiding in the corner - she has bleeding spots at the same location as Peepers from being pecked by Rosanna) and Amira (front Wyandotte), and then Rosanna (Buff O) and Summer (Buff O). I put Blue Hen Ointment on Peepers sore spots. Will need help catching Elvira as she is hiding. Do I need to bathe her or not? Do I just use the Hen Ointment? She will be a handful. Peepers actually loved the blow dry.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

There's no way to tell what's in that sieve, it could be a mixture of dirt.
If you inspected her and didn't find any crawling bugs, then you're probably o.k.

You did have a rooster, but sadly he died. Peeper bare wings still look to be from mating to me. So would be the thinned out fuzzy feathers on her back.
In the wing photo I see skin, broken feathers and a few pin feathers (new growth). If feathers are damaged or broken off, they will not be replaced until the hen molts - usually in the fall. All you can do is apply some bluekote to the bare skin to hide it a little or order a chicken saddle with wings if the other hens are picking at her.
If these photos were taken in the last few days, all of your hens look bright eyed and in good condition.

 

[Wrenne]

I just took the photos after I bathed Peepers. I did put the blue Hen Healer General Purpose Ointment on her, but she is taking it off herself. I painted it on with a paint brush. So I can feel somewhat safe in visually checking for Elvira for critters and in the absence of seeing anything just apply the ointment. I think Asia died from infection in his breathing passageways. The hens have had the antibiotic and did seem to be better. But I also wormed with Fenbendazol. So I a little afraid at the current temperature to bathe these girls. The bathing process with Peepers who is easy to handle was not short nor dry for me either. Thank you for your help.